Age and genetic background determine hybrid male sterility in house mice

Abstract

AbstractHybrid male sterility (HMS) is a unique type of reproductive isolation commonly observed between house mouse (Mus musculus) subspecies in the wild and in laboratory crosses. We identified hybrids that display three distinct trajectories of fertility despite having identical genotypes at the major HMS gene Prdm9 and the X Chromosome. In each case, we crossed female PWK/PhJ mice representative of the M.m.musculus subspecies to males from classical inbred strains representative of M.m.domesticus: 129S1/SvImJ, A/J, C57BL/6J, and DBA/2J. PWK129S1 males are always sterile, while PWKDBA2 males escape HMS. In addition, we observe age-dependent sterility in PWKB6 and PWKAJ males. These males are fertile between 15 and 35 weeks with moderate penetrance. These results point to multiple segregating HMS modifier alleles, some of which have an age-dependent mode of action. Age-dependent mechanisms could have broad implications for the maintenance of reproductive barriers in nature.Author SummaryTwo subspecies of house mice show partial reproductive barriers in nature, and may be in the process of speciation. We used mice derived from each subspecies to replicate hybrid male sterility (HMS) in laboratory mice. Two major genetic factors are well established as playing a role in mouse HMS, but the number of additional factors and their mechanisms are unknown. We characterized reproductive trait variation in a set of hybrid male mice that were specifically designed to eliminate the effects of known genetic factors. We discovered that age played an important role in fertility of some hybrids. These hybrid males showed a delayed onset of fertility, then became fertile for only a few weeks. Across all hybrids males in our study, we observed three distinct trajectories of fertility: complete fertility, complete sterility, and age-dependent fertility. These results point to two or more critical HMS variants with large enough effects to completely restore fertility. This study advances our understanding of the genetic architecture and biological mechanisms of reproductive isolation in mice.